Herbal Remedies defined:

    Herbal remedies are the use of one or a combination of medicinal plants found in nature to help with or relieve health issues or problems.  The use of herbal remedies is considered healthier than the use of the standard chemical pharmaceuticals since they are found in nature.

 A Brief History of Herbal Remedies:

     Herbal remedies have been used for tens of thousands of years.  The medicinal properties of certain plants and their healing properties were generally handed down by word of mouth from medicine man to medicine man.  As time went on and civilization grew, information about the medicinal uses of various plants were written down for the benefit of future herbalists.  Around the first century A.D., a Roman doctor named Galen established a system of rules and classifications based on the four humors (blood, bile, phlegm, choler).  The Galenic methods included bloodletting, purging and exotic medicines.  This system of medicine continued for centuries.  During the black plague epidemic in the 1300s, this medicinal practice proved useless and there was a renewed interest in the herbal remedies.  This was fueled by another major medical problem, syphilis.  The Galenic approach, considered the standard, was to administer Mercury.  A French doctor named Nicholas Monardes used sarsaparilla as an herbal remedy and it was found that those who took sarsaparilla healed faster and more completely.  This historical example shows that plants like sarsaparilla have a medicinal value and is just one of 10,000 different plants that are considered to have a medicinal quality to it.

The pharmaceutical industry and herbal remedies.

     In America, the pharmaceutical industry is big business and has not done much research in the area of herbal remedies because a plant can not be patented and therefore there is little monetary benefit in the research.  Researchers have looked at plants and isolated the active constituents (active chemicals) but found that they are less effective as an isolated ingredient than as the crude herb.  The lack of standardization has also created difficulty within the United States.  Unlike the controlled manufacturing of a chemical medicine, raw plants can be more or less potent and therefore be either toxic or ineffective as medications.  It has still been found that the plant is still better than the isolated active constituents. 

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Using herbal remedies:

     Even though there are many uses for herbal remedies found over the counter, it is important to recognize that they can have a very real effect on the body.  Some doctors still see herbal remedies as psychosomatic, not unlike a placebo.  Self diagnosis and self medicating can be dangerous and a physician should be consulted if herbal remedies are being considered.